April 26, 2011

Ray Stevens and the Spirit of '76...

This latest offering from Ray Stevens is wonderful in it's topicality, humor, sarcasm, and irony. This digital download features 11 songs that will put anyone in either a political mood or at the very least a current events mood...and more importantly you'll be laughing throughout most of the collection. The collection starts off with Ray's previous single "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore". This song is about a couple who have quite an adventure while at the airport thanks in large part to the TSA's enhanced security procedures. A music video was uploaded in February 2011 and it's been viewed by more than 140,000 people on You Tube.

Track number two is a catchy sing-a-long...entitled "Mr. President-Mr. President" we hear Ray giving a rundown on all the things that are going wrong in the country (mostly of Obama's making) and it's then we hear Ray ask the President what are his plans going forward. The President gives his plans on straightening out the economy and the unemployment problem among other issues. It's a very funny song and it fits Obama like a golf glove.

On the third song, "God Save Arizona", we hear a very serious performance condemning the United States Attorney General as well as the critics of Jan Brewer and Joe Arpaio. The single and subsequent music video was released in August 2010. The video's been viewed by over 700,000 people on You Tube.

In the collection's fourth song, "Cap'n Trade the Pirate", we're told the tale of a pirate who wants to join forces with the President and punish America, too. The pirate goes through his credentials of why he feels he's uniquely qualified to be the enforcer of both the environmental and energy policies of the far-left. He plans to shrink the 'carbon footprint' and has plans on job growth and other programs near and dear to the progressives. Ray performs the bulk of the song using his pirate vocal impression.

Turning serious again we have the clever "Uncle Sam"...in this quiet, reflective ballad Ray sings about an Uncle named Sam who's gotten up in years and doesn't have a grasp on reality. The uncle throws his money away at the drop of a hat...but Ray (the nephew) comes up with a plan on trying to help his Uncle get on the right path and regain his common sense. This performance is followed by the high-energy, inspirational feel of "November Storm" which incorporates meteorology jargon when describing the previous election cycle and the one upcoming in 2012.

Some may be asking themselves: Does Ray tackle illegal immigration in this collection? Why, yes, he does...and he does it well. In his previous collection, We the People, Ray sang about illegal immigration on a song called "Come to the USA" (it's music video has over 5,000,000 views on You Tube). Meanwhile, on this Spirit of '76 collection we have a further tale of illegal immigration titled "Mi Casa Su Casa". As we near the end of the collection we get more and more into satire and irony. "Grandpa Voted Democrat" may appear from it's title to be a sentimental song about how a grandpa voted...or a song about a grandfather's political beliefs...but in reality the song is a wickedly funny story about a bizarre chain of events.

Track 9 is Ray's current single and music video: "Obama Budget Plan". The song is kind of a sequel to the collection's opening song, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore". This time around the couple (who I refer to as the TSA couple) have apparently made their way from the airport and become fixated on living their lives on what's referred to as the "Obama Budget Plan" and so they create a vast operation in their basement, complete with printing press, and they go on a money printing spree. They figure if it's fine for Congress and the President (Government in general) to rack up debt and print more and more money to cover expenses then it should be okay for the American public to do the same thing. The music video was uploaded onto You Tube late on April 25, 2011 and in a matter of hours it's gotten 17,476 views. The video was highlighted on The O'Reilly Factor on April 25th.

Track 10, "News Machine", takes shots at TV news in general...especially when it's a slow news day and the mundane is lifted into the stellar and reported on insatiably 24/7. Track 11, "New Normal", is another satirical song and this time around we hear of a once rich man down on his luck thanks in large part to the President and the pay czar. We're told of how lonesome it is living underneath the bridge and how he can't wait for 2012 to roll around when Obama's kicked out of office...officially putting an end to Obama's "New Normal". As an added touch Ray delves into Hank Williams territory and yodels the song's title while a harmonica plays in the background.

All in all it's a wonderful release and a perfect companion to the We The People release last year. Here's "Obama Budget Plan"...the latest from Ray Stevens...

No comments:

Post a Comment

About Me

I'm a big fan of what's called classic country music. I love the HEE-HAW television program and I like watching vintage cartoons. I have four blogs...the main one is devoted to Ray Stevens. My Ray Stevens blog is written from a fan's perspective. The opinions and expressions discussed in this blog are of my own creation and should not be taken as representation of Ray Stevens and his office staff. I'm simply a dedicated, though opinionated, fan of Ray's who likes discussing his music and career. This fan-created blog page is something that I started when I got fed up with the lack of accurate information about Ray Stevens that was circulating on the internet.

2012

The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music became available on February 28th; It's an impressive set featuring 9-CD's and a booklet; There are 108 recordings altogether and the booklet gives in-depth detail about each of the songs and their impact on society; Ray covers practically all the major comedy/novelty songs that have been recorded over the last 60 plus years; It's a marvelous collection!!

2014

Ray's memoir, Nashville, is a great book! If you don't have a copy I suggest you purchase one...any fan of Ray Stevens should get this book.

2016

Ray's recording, "Dear America", demonstrates that America is still the greatest country on Earth regardless of internal conflicts and imperfections; A loving tribute to the country and a defiant plea that the country's values and traditions should still continue to be championed and fought for; Excellent recording!

2017

Season One DVD of Ray's television series; It contains the first 13 episodes broadcast on local PBS stations from earlier this year; These episodes originally aired on RFD-TV but they were repeated on PBS stations starting this past January; Some local PBS stations aired all 26 episodes from the RFD run while other local PBS stations aired the first 13 episodes and then began airing the PBS exclusives which became available over the summer months; Future DVD releases are expected.

2017

Season Two of the Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville series; This volume consists of episodes guest starring the likes of Bill Anderson, Con Hunley, Williams and Ree, Leroy Van Dyke, and many more!! A perfect companion to Season One; Each season contains 13 half hour episodes.

2018

The Ray Stevens CabaRay Showroom officially opened to the public on January 18, 2018; This date is signifcant in the career of Ray Stevens in that it's the date he arrived in Nashville in 1962; The facility houses an entire array of entertainment from the main showroom to a piano bar, a gift shop, and it also houses his recording studios for audio and video productions; The upcoming Sixth Season of his PBS television series, CabaRay Nashville, is being taped at the showroom; These episodes represent the first to be taped at the venue.